The Barnes & Noble were my mystery group meets hosted an event tonight with a representative from Random House. It was so much fun I’m so glad I had the chance to go.

Book group members were invited to hear about books that would be great for discussion, books that will be released soon and there were even lots of freebies.

I took notes and what amazed me is that out of the 25 or so books that were mentioned I’ve only read one! I’d heard of most of them but after hearing about them this evening they’ve all have definitely landed on my wish list. Do you want to know what those recommendations were? Let me share some:

• Lying Awake by Mark Salzman. A book you won’t be able to stop thinking about.
• The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte. A bit of a mystery but also a philosophical study.
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. A fictional account of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
• The Eight by Katherine Neville. 20 years ago this was the DaVinci Code of its time.
• Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. I know I’ve heard a lot about this one via the blogosphere.
• Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. A sort of contemporary version of the Canterbury Tales.
• Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt. Suggested as the perfect gift for that horrible driver on your list.
• America, America by Ethan Canin. A stunning novel.
• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. Yep, this one was already on my list.
• Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler. A book of interconnected short stories.
• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. An unforgetable portrait of lost hopes in the suburbs of America.
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. The thriller of the year.

Early next year two books to look forward to are: Hands of My Father and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

And, I was a lucky Bookgirl because I got a copy of Michelle Richmond’s novel, The Year of Fog, which I remember hearing lots of good things about earlier this year.

So that was my fun evening. I’m off to catch up on my current reads.

I met up with my mystery book group to discuss The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and I think almost everyone liked it. I have to say for a book as well-known as this one and one classified as a classic of noir fiction, I can’t believe how little I knew about it going into it. Actually, the only thing I knew was that the detective was Sam Spade.

This actually made my reading experience even better because I didn’t know what to expect. I figured there would be tough guys and femme fatales and well that held true, but I sort of expected more action. There is a lot that goes on in this relatively short novel but it almost seems like the action takes second place to the atmosphere. Even the mystery didn’t seem to be the main part. I felt it was more about the characters and their motivations and corruption in society.

Compared to other contemporary mysteries written at the time such as those of Agatha Christie, the hard-boiled detective story is quite a departure. The hard-boiled detective, in this case Sam Spade, probably deals more with the seedier aspects of society and often bends the law but still manages to have his own “code” that he lives by. What I found myself thinking as I was reading the story was that I couldn’t trust any of the characters. They all seemed to have something that they were hiding, including Sam.

I am curious how “shocking” these types of stories must have been when they first came out. I can nitpick now and see a lot of stereotypes, especially with the women characters but nevertheless I do think these stories must have shaken the literary scene.

So, I really enjoyed this and am glad to finally say I’ve read something by Hammett. I’d certainly read more noir fiction but I wonder which next. Anyone have any suggestions or favorites of noir fiction?

And, I’m pretty excited about next month’s selection, Voices by Arnaldur Indridason. I’ve been wanting to read this book so I’m looking forward to finding out what’s next for Inspector Erlendur. I’m not sure if I’ll make it to book group as it gets too close to the holiday madness but for now I’m planning on it.